Maker of Kings
Maker of Kings submitted by wulfepup. Feel free to comment and/or tweak. I'm not very good at flavor text, so please feel free to add here. The Makers of Kings are the bards, beat poets, skalds, and other entertainers that alter political opinions. The Makers have been around since before recorded history. They have always influenced public opinion towards their favorites and away from those they dislike. The Makers come from several backgrounds: one might be a poet or a rock star, a street mime or a famous actor. All performance artists are welcomed. Parent Path: Acanthus Parent Order: Silver Ladder Nickname: The Bards Appearance: Since the Makers can come from any walk of life, there is no single identifiable feature. Most of them tend to dress in some extreme fashion, based upon their entertainment field. Of course, since most people in the entertainment fields dress in an extreme fashion, the Makers do not stand out any more than other entertainers. Most do tend accumulate Fame and/or Status. Background: As above. Suggested Oblations: Public performance; dress rehearsals (with an audience); writing speeches/poetry/music Concepts: Rock stars; Beat poets; Spoken-Word "musicians"; performance artists Attainments To use any attainment, the mage must perform, by singing, dancing, or speaking, etc. If the mage wishes to affect spell factors (such as duration, number of targets, potency, etc) the mage may make a Presence + Performance + Mind roll (or the roll specified by the ability, if applicable), using the standard Instant Casting tables for penalties. Otherwise, assume only the default factors. First Attainment: Convincing the Crowd. Prereq.: Gnosis 3; Mind 2 (primary); Politics 2 The mage gains ability to influence attitudes as per the "Emotonal Urging" spell (pg. 207), as an instant action the Bard may use the emotions of "trust", "distrust", "adore", "dispise", or similar "personality based" emotions. The mage selects an object of emotion and a recipient. The recipient gets a reflexive Composure + Gnosis (or equivilant) to contest the Maker's Manipulation + Persuasion + Mind. The object's Fame (or Status, if appropriate) may be applied as a bonus to either side, as circumstances dictate. (ie Target is a police officer; Object is a famous criminal (3 dots). The Maker gets a +3 bonus if the emotion is "hate", "distrust", etc, while the target gets a +3 bonus if the emotion is "like", "trust", etc.) Alternatively, the Bard can use an ability similar to the "First Impressions" spell (pg. 208), except rather than the Maker being the object of trust, he may designate any person of Fame 1 (or Status 1, if applicable to the target) or greater. This use is automatic and not contested. Second Attainment: I Speak Your Language. Prereq.: Gnosis 5; Mind 3 This attainment allows a Bard to speak/perfom to anyone, regardless of language barriers. This ability is identical to the "Universal Language" spell (pg 213) for limitations. Success is assumed, unless penalties would be levied, in which case, the Bard may roll Intelligence + Academics + Mind - penalties. Third Attainment: Rousing the Crowd (INCOMPLETE) Prereq.: Gnosis 7; Mind 4 The Bard can, at this point, use his up to twice his ranks in Mind to negate penalties towards affecting multiple targets (or area of effect) for first and second attainments (using the standard instant spellcasting tables). --wulfepup 12:30, 2 Oct 2005 (UTC)